Kryptonite
by ScorplinginTraining
Summary: Paige was wrong when she claimed to be Lois Lane. Kryptonite is actually the only thing that can make Superman vulnerable. My attempt at a Scorpion episode set directly after the Season 2 finale.
1. Chapter 1

**KRYPTONITE**

 **CHAPTER 1**

Time is the enemy of all quixotic actions and impulsive gestures especially for someone with an abnormally high IQ and an underdeveloped EQ. So, Walter talked himself out of chasing Paige approximately ninety-six miles outside the Los Angeles city limits. Of course, he didn't consider it a craven move but a rational one. At least that's what he told himself as he turned 'the company car' around to start the long drive back to the garage.

Walter was mentally picturing bullet points and outlining all the logical reasons he should forget his asinine pursuit of Paige. They went something like this:

"FACT 1) Toby and Happy's relationship is in turmoil. It is inadvisable to introduce another unpredictable and unstable element into Scorpion until that couple finds balance again.

FACT 2) Love is an abstract concept. It can't be quantified or proven scientifically. To use it as a motivation for action is therefore inadvisable.

FACT 3) I acknowledge I have strong feelings for Paige I have never experienced before, but there is no proof the attachment I feel is love at all. It could be any number of things since I only began to develop my humanity recently. I can not state non-facts, so to tell Paige I love her… Well, it's indeterminate and can't be proven absolutely.

FACT 4) Perhaps it's not fair to stop Paige when it would undoubtedly be easier for her to be in a relationship with Tim."

This point was more difficult to consider, actually making him cringe inwardly, but he was trying to separate feelings from thoughts after all. Sometimes truth was hard.

"She can understand Tim. Tim can understand her. I am difficult to understand, even for people like me. It is possibly selfish to go after her.

FACT 5) Tim might take exception to the interruption and react physically. I am no match for a former Navy SEAL.

FACT 6) Relationships are hard enough to maintain even when both parties are normal. Toby and Happy are a prime example of how fast and how easily things can go completely wrong.

FACT 7) There is more than one route to Lake Tahoe and many variables. It is entirely possible I could miss Paige altogether and my time and effort would be wasted.

…"

Walter's list of excuses went on until he found himself pulling back into the alley behind the garage. He noticed Happy's truck parked in the lot. Groaning inwardly, he decided he didn't want to interrupt (or have to referee) whatever was happening inside. Nor did he want to explain to a likely very inebriated Toby why he returned so quickly without Paige. So he spent the rest of the night in his car trying in vain to bury his feelings in the familiar comfort of logic, and fighting overwhelming despair when the thoughts of Paige with Tim stubbornly resurfaced in his mind.

On Monday morning, Walter was determined to 'act normal' or at least like he normally would. The problem was, he had been experiencing severe insomnia since his ill-advised outburst to Toby and the subsequent waste of time chasing after what he decided was unattainable. When he did sleep, his dreams were plagued with scenes of Paige and Tim and what they likely did over the weekend. Since he had no desire to pause or rewind those images, the only option for stopping them was force himself to wake up.

Walter made sure he was downstairs early. It took all his energy, but he determinedly locked down his unproductive emotions and wouldn't allow himself to hide in the loft like he was tempted to do. If he wasn't exactly bright-eyed, he was at least clean-shaven, dressed neatly and making coffee when the team started to arrive.

First to come in was Sly trailed by Ralph. They came through the door chattering about a new Super Fun Guy video game they were designing. They had worked on it together all weekend. Walter quickly suppressed a stab of envy and greeted the pair, asking them coding questions until all three were deep in geek speak around Ralph's tablet.

That's when Toby and Happy made their appearance. Walter looked up, eyeing them warily and trying to detect any residual awkwardness between the two. To his profound relief, they seemed to be getting along and he decided it was a good sign that they arrived simultaneously.

"Attention, please!" Toby announced as he dragged a chair over from the kitchen table and stood on the seat. Happy was scowling at him and attempting to pull him down from his perch while hissing at him to shut his mouth. But he ignored her and continued, "I just wanted to let everyone know… Wait. Where's Paige? I'm not doing this twice. I'll be lucky if Happy doesn't kill me after this first time."

Walter had just been wondering what was keeping Paige. He checked his watch for the fourteenth time since he came downstairs. She was usually the first one to get there in the mornings. He refused to contemplate the possible reasons for her tardiness.

Just then the door opened and the person in question walked in looking a little scattered and a lot tired. But Walter wouldn't allow himself to examine her appearance too closely.

Toby started up again, "Oh, good. You're here. Listen up, fellow team members. I just want everyone to know a couple of things so we can avoid nosy questions and general tension around the office. While 'Quintis' was briefly derailed on Friday, we are currently back on track. Happy has absolutely NO comment on her current or future marital status, and any questions you ask will be at your peril. Until such time as that minor 'already married' detail can be rectified, she and I have decided to live together 'in sin' at her place until further notice. We will update you with any further developments as we see fit. That is all." With that, Toby jumped off the chair and strode toward his desk with an enormously satisfied smile on his face.

The group was stunned into silence for a beat until Toby paused in front of Walter.

"So, Walt, you have the floor. Do you have anything of your own to announce? Status update for 'Waige' for instance? No?"

When Walter stared blankly back at him, Toby said, "Well, that's disappointing but not surprising. I guess its back to the usual nonsense then?"

During their exchange, Paige walked over to Ralph, hugged him briefly from behind and quietly asked about his weekend. He and Sylvester started talking animatedly about their game as if nothing of interest was happening around them.

Toby looked intently at Walter who was following Paige around with his gaze.

"You talked yourself out of it, didn't you, Big Brain?"

"I concluded that rushing after Paige was irrational. After weighing all the facts, I decided not to pursue her."

"So, you chickened out? I see," Toby said shaking his head while Walter glowered at him.

"If you don't want to reveal the details of your reconciliation with Happy, then you won't bother me about this. There is nothing more to discuss."

"Believe me, I'd be shouting out more details than you could stand to hear, but I value my relationship and my life too much to push it with Happy right now. But I guess I'll leave you alone about this mess you've made with Paige…for now. Because I'm too happy and I'm pretty sure knowing about your love life would only depress me," Toby replied and made his way over to his desk.

Paige had yet to look directly at Walter, but after greeting Ralph, she came over to his desk.

"Uh, good morning, Walter," she said with stiff, formal politeness, "I wanted to ask you something. I noticed you called me a few times on Friday night. What was it you needed?"

Paige's proximity was causing Walter's palms to sweat and he couldn't form a single coherent thought for a moment. Then, his mind started racing trying to find an answer to her question that sounded plausible.

"Uh, I d-don't…I," was the initial response.

She gave him a confused look.

"It, uh, it was concerning…uh, Toby's situation which you can see is now, um, better. S-sorry I disturbed your-your, uh, evening…," Walter finally said in a rush.

"Oh, okay," She answered with a strained smile, "Well anyway, sorry I didn't get back to you before…" Then after a pause she added, "I guess I'll get started on those adjustments to the payroll now."

Paige glanced up at him again before slowly turning away, leaving him to stare at her retreating back, sick with curiosity and trepidation about what had happened between her and Tim over the weekend.

Acting 'normal' was going to be much harder than he anticipated.

 **AN: I know. I know. Another Walter running after Paige scenario. But these possible outcomes keep running around my head and I have to write them down to get them out! I'm also very afraid the writers will have Walter talk himself out of actually going through with things...AGAIN! Anyway, I'm addressing that eventuality in this story. As always, please read/review. It lets me know if you want to hear more of my nonsense.**


	2. Chapter 2

**KRYPTONITE**

 **CHAPTER 2**

Toby was in rare form. He only waited a scant two seconds after Ralph's carpool picked the boy up for school before turning toward Paige with a mischievous grin. His eyes were darting back and forth between her and Walter.

"So..., Ms. Dineen," the shrink drawled, "I didn't want to scar your son for life, so you should thank me for not asking until now. But how exactly was your romantic weekend with Tim? Feel free to give us _all_ the gory details."

"Why can't you shut it today, Doc?" Happy asked, sounding annoyed. But she was looking curiously over at her boss.

Walter was trying his best to appear busy and like he was concentrating on anything else, but his entire being was poised on the proverbial edge of his seat raptly awaiting Paige's reply.

Paige propped her chin on her hand and looked at Toby with an exaggerated, beatific smile and answered in a breathy voice, "It was completely and totally and utterly…"

Walter clenched his fists in his lap and fought rising nausea while staring holes in his desk top. He sincerely wished he could render himself temporarily deaf.

"…none of your business," she finished. Paige let the fake smile slide from her face and went back to work.

Sylvester snorted. "I guess she told you," he remarked under his breath.

"I'm sensing some hostility from you. Care to talk about that?" Toby inquired, undaunted and all innocence.

Paige was saved from commenting by the arrival of Cabe and Deputy Director Cooper.

"Gather around. We've got a case," Cabe said to the room at large and held up a jump drive.

Everyone got up and approached the bank of monitors.

"We've had an influx of armor piercing bullets cropping up around the city lately," Cabe explained, "They dug some out of a couple of members of the SWAT team after a thwarted bank robbery two weeks ago. Through one of the perps they arrested in that case, the cops were able to ascertain the source of the ammo, but that source turned out to be a small-time middle man. The feds were leaning on him to talk until he was permanently silenced in a holding cell last night. The FBI was only able to get one useful bit of intel out of him before his untimely death."

Cabe motioned for Walter to plug in the thumb drive. A company logo filled the screens.

"Helping Hands Temporary Services," Katherine took over as slides of smiling people doing various jobs began to scroll, "This outfit has been under investigation for years for money laundering, weapons brokering and many other not-so-savory enterprises. But they are really smart about covering their tracks and, so far, nothing prosecutable can be linked to them. We believe they are the big fish distributing these bullets around for the smaller fish to sell. Needless to say, we want to find a way to shut down the supply line. I can't stress enough how dangerous this ammo can be in the wrong hands, especially for our law enforcement officers and military personnel."

"What exactly is Scorpion's role in all this?" Asked Walter, who was extremely grateful for the distraction of a case.

Cabe replied, "The feds have tried a few times to infiltrate this company to no avail. It's as if they can sniff out cops, or more likely they have an inside man that tips them off. The team will go in undercover applying for jobs as temps. Walter will apply for an IT position, Sylvester for accounting, Happy for service or maintenance, and Paige as an office assistant."

"What about me?" Toby asked.

"They don't have an open position for a wiseass," Happy shot back.

Cabe chuckled and said, "We will need you to profile the personnel looking for any criminal element or connections with a cop or fed. You can do that from the garage."

Cooper chimed in, "You guys will have to hack their employee files first before Toby can get started. That must be done from inside the office because of the security on their system. All company records are on intranet only and can't be accessed from the outside. That includes not only the employee information, but shipping manifests, invoices, bookkeeping and other things that might be pertinent to this case. The company does have a legit website, but it's only used for submitting resumes and applications and for customers to request temporary workers. We need you guys to go to 'work' for them and keep your eyes and ears open for anything suspicious. Make copies of anything you find. Any detail may be significant. We can't get warrants issued until something concrete can be found.

I'll leave you to work out the details, and I'll check on your progress in the morning. Good luck, everyone." With that, Katherine left the case in their hands and headed out of the garage.

"We should…," Walter began, but was interrupted by Toby.

"Before we can start the brainstorming process, we need to address the Tim-sized elephant in the room, or more accurately, _not_ in the room. It's very distracting. Where is your conspicuously absent protégé, Cabe?"

The older man cleared his throat. "I thought Paige would have told you," he answered.

Everyone looked at Paige, but she just shrugged and shook her head, so Cabe continued, "Tim got cleared for duty and was called back to his unit. He had to report at 06:00 this morning. He really enjoyed working with you guys and getting to know you, but this was his goal all along."

"Hmmm…Wonder why Paige didn't mention that?" Toby pondered aloud.

"Could we please focus on the case?" Paige said with a thread of impatience in her tone.

"I concur," Walter agreed. All of the sudden he was feeling fifty pounds lighter and more relaxed than he had been since Friday. He was happy to push the rest of the unwanted emotional detritus to the side and concentrate on more important matters.

After a plan was mapped out, Sylvester and Toby spent a diverting hour making up names and resumes for the four 'applicants'. Happy would be called 'Patricia Curtis'. Sylvester picked the name Patricia for her alter ego Patty Prankenstein from the Super Fun Guy case in Kazakhstan. And Toby picked 'Curtis' for obvious reasons. Paige was dubbed 'Zoe Walters'. Again, Sly picked her first name based on her Zany Zoe costume. And Toby picked Walters because he said she should be Walter's, then he laughed hysterically at his own cleverness. Sylvester was going in as 'Bruce Parker', from Batman's and Spiderman's true identities. And they made Walter's alias 'Clark Lane', a combination of Clark Kent and Lois Lane. Both of the geniuses giggled over the assumed names and made everyone look spectacular on paper as they turned in applications and resumes on the Helping Hands website. All the numbers listed for references would ring at the garage where Cabe or Toby would answer.

Happy tried to ignore their silliness and made fake IDs to go with their new names.

Walter spent the rest of his day creating online profiles for everyone in the event Helping Hands ran background checks…and dodging being alone in a room with Paige.

By the end of business that day, each applicant had an interview scheduled for the following day at different times. Paige convinced the others she would coach them over comms while they were interviewing, because in spite of their progress, the geniuses still weren't great with authority.

As Walter made his way up to the loft after everyone left, his eyes felt gritty due to lack of sleep and staring at a computer all day. But in spite of his exhaustion, he felt confident the equilibrium within Scorpion had been reestablished. He was _sure_ he'd made the right decision regarding his foolishness with Paige.

But, you know what they say…

"There are none so blind as those who will not see. The most deluded people are those who choose to ignore what they already know." – Jonathan Swift.

 **AN: Here's a quick update for those who are following the story. Bear with me, there's more Waige on the way. But Walter is just Walter and he won't be rushed. Also there is a good reason Paige is a little quieter than normal for now. Please read and review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**KRYPTONITE**

 **CHAPTER 3**

The next morning, Paige stalked into the garage looking exasperated. She dumped her purse on her desk and flopped down on her chair.

"Uh, oh," Sylvester said, "I guess the interview didn't go so well?"

The rest of the team was eyeing Paige curiously.

She rolled her eyes and answered, "Oh, I _aced_ that interview. But it had very little to do with my skill set and everything to do with my other 'assets'. Happy is going to _kill_ this guy!"

"What did he do?!" Walter demanded.

"Nothing too terrible, just disgusting. He's your basic middle-aged lecher with a beer belly and a really bad comb-over," she said with a shudder, "And we have another problem."

"Besides me kicking this guy's ass up between his ears?" Happy threw in.

Paige smirked. "Yes. We can't use our com devices in the building. It's a good thing I didn't think I needed mine this morning."

"Why not?" Asked Sylvester.

"They make you leave your cell phone, laptop and any other electronic devices, including e-readers with security when you come in. Then you have to pass through a scanner before you can even enter the main lobby. They blatantly told me they were looking for listening devices, claiming it's to prevent 'corporate espionage'. In a temp agency? Right. I also had to sign a release regarding confidentiality and privacy, but since we are using false names, it's not really an issue."

"Well, that means we can't even bring in jump drives to copy files. That's smart," Toby said almost sounding impressed, "I guess if you could access the internet from the office computers, you may be able to email the files to yourselves."

"Or we may end up having to do things the old-fashioned way and print hard copies of everything," Walter suggested, "But first we all need to get hired. Paige feels confident she got the job. The rest of us will need to do our best to impress this guy too."

Paige scoffed, "You are all going to need some coaching beforehand. Remember my voice won't be in your ears while you're there."

Sylvester looked at her nervously, already starting to sweat. "My interview is next. What do you think I should do?"

"I'm not as worried about you, Sly. Believe me, you aren't his type. He's going to be completely bored with you, I promise. Just don't bring up your OCD or talk about any of your anxieties. Your memory is perfect, so answer his questions about your fake qualifications and don't offer any other information and you'll do fine."

"What about me?" Happy asked.

Paige laughed. "You may need a sedative! This guy's a real piece of work. When he sets you off, and he will, try picturing what will happen to him in jail if we get these jobs and find the evidence we need. Oh, and don't wear a skirt or anything low cut…not that you would. We do need to find you an interview outfit, though."

"What's wrong with this?" Happy said, pointing to her leather jacket and jeans and sounding offended, "I'm going for a maintenance gig, not a personal assistant's job."

"Don't give me a hard time on this, okay? It's just for the interview, then you can dress normally again. And Walter? If you aren't careful, this guy is really going to _hate_ you. You'll have to play down your intellect and flatter his, well, lack of one. I think maybe your best bet is to say as little as possible. Just answer his questions briefly and _please_ don't make any observations or give any suggestions. If you can dial yourself back a little, he won't pay that much attention to you."

"This better be worth it," Happy grumbled.

Paige received a call from Helping Hands offering her a job while Sly was leaving for his interview. When she hung up the phone, she looked revolted.

"So, when do you start temping, 'Zoe'?" Toby asked.

"I wasn't offered a job as a temp. That jerk wants me to work in his office as a file clerk."

"But that's even better," Toby said, "You will have access to files all day long as part of your job. Everyone else will only have time to look around when they check in and out. The rest of the time, they will be on their other jobsites."

"I don't like this," Walter blurted, scowling, "You will be sexually harassed on a daily basis."

"Walter," Paige said with a wry smile, "I was a waitress for a lot of years. I learned how to dodge gropers, patters and pinchers like a champ, and I still got good tips. I can handle this guy. It won't be pleasant, but I can take one for the team this time."

Still looking a bit sour, Walter replied, "I'm still not happy with it. Let's hope we can find what we need and finish this job quickly."

XOXOXOXOXO

By some miracle, the whole cyclone made it through the interview process without Sylvester throwing up, Walter getting punched in the face, or Happy getting arrested for assault…but just barely. By 2:00pm the following afternoon, they had all been offered brand new temp jobs.

Toby found it highly amusing that Paige's new boss's name was Donald Purvis. He spent a good while entertaining himself by renaming him 'Perv-me McPurvis', 'Perves R Us', and 'Don't Purv-us, we'll perve you' among other things.

Walter didn't see the humor. And He did not have a good feeling about this job.

 **AN: This story is going in it's own direction. It's turning into an episode of Scorpion or something. I hope you'll stay with me on it. Everything will come around eventually. And I figure what else do we have to do until September?**


	4. Chapter 4

**KRYPTONITE**

 **CHAPTER 4**

Walter was frustrated. He just felt…edgy. If he hadn't made numerous promises to curb his imprudent, reckless tendencies, he would more than likely be sky diving with an experimental flight suit or test driving race cars. His skin felt too tight, his mind too restless. He could usually focus when they had a case, but not this time. He _hated_ this case.

Day after day Walter was forced to show idiots how to operate their computers while Sly was adding receipts and Happy was plunging toilets and replacing outlet covers. And then there was Paige. Thinking about her situation made him grind his teeth. That bastard 'boss' of hers was ogling her every day and trying to put his lascivious, wandering hands on her and she was no closer to gathering any evidence than any of the rest of them. Her 'boss' wouldn't let her near his computer unless he was inviting her to sit on his lap, and the only actual filing she was doing involved new applicants, interview appointments, and legit customers. It had been a whole week and there were no breaks in the investigation yet.

And there was something wrong with Paige. Aside from this hideous case, she was too polite and formal with him. She never stayed around the garage after hours. Never reprimanded him for being rude. Never joked with him. Never touched him. Walter was shocked at how much he missed her randomly patting his arm or gripping his hand or rubbing his shoulder. It occurred to him at some point he'd stopped merely tolerating her touch. Now he craved it. Needed it. And didn't know how to ask for it.

When Walter was alone, his mind was _way_ too occupied with questions about Tim and Paige. Were they together now? Just because he'd gone back to the navy didn't mean they weren't a couple, especially if he was stationed nearby. Paige never mentioned Tim, but she wasn't exactly making small talk with Walter lately.

The only person Walter found restful was Ralph. They could sit side-by-side for hours working on coding or some project or experiment and talk quietly, or not at all, in complete symbiosis. They understood each other so well. And Ralph was a conduit to Paige while she was being so distant. The only time she truly smiled at him these days was when he and Ralph were together.

On Wednesday afternoon, one week after the team members took their fruitless temping jobs, they gathered around the conference table for a status and brainstorming meeting.

Toby looked around at the disgruntled group and began the discussion with, "Well this case has been a steaming pile of garbage so far. I'm getting tired of psychoanalyzing Cabe day after day. The only employee at Helping Hands I can profile is Deviant Donald Perve-us whose hands are helping themselves all over his office staff. And I think Paige had a pretty good read on him after her interview. I still don't have the actual employee files. Paige can only access the temp workers' information and they are obviously the legitimate cover for this business."

"We aren't allowed in the main part of the building when we check in," Happy said slouching in her chair and looking resentful, "Otherwise I could pick the lock on an office and get to someone's computer. But we clock in, pick up our work order for the day and they send us out, all from the security office. Same procedure for check out only in reverse. The building specs we were able to find with the zoning commission don't reveal much except which room is likely security. And we were well aware of that from the outset."

"I'm not looking at ledgers or books from Helping Hands. I'm sent out every day to businesses that keep their receipts and bills in shoeboxes. It's as disorganized as it is disgusting. I've got a big fat zero in the evidence column," Sly added.

Unable to sit, Walter stood and leaned on his palms on the table. "I know it's been irksome for all of us. At least once a day I have to remind someone to check and see if his or her monitor is plugged in. We need to put our heads together and figure out a way to expedite the gathering of evidence. I mean, we broke into Fort Knox. Twice. We may have to resort to breaking into Helping Hands if we can't do this more subtly and legally like Homeland wants us to. None of us wants to be in this situation any longer than we need to be."

"I'll second that," Paige said, "I feel like I need a shower every time I'm in the same room with that creep! But I think I have an idea that might actually help."

"Let's hear it. Any suggestions would be great at this point," Cabe threw in, "I'm tired of telling Katherine we got a big nothing, particularly now that we know the illegal ammo has been used against law enforcement in two other crimes."

"I've been watching Purvis type his password for a week when I could catch him. He's overly protective of his workstation and always logs out even when he's just taking a bathroom break or going for coffee. The few times he steps out of the office, I try to log in with the password I've seen him type and I can't ever get in. You only have three tries before it locks you out of the system, so I've been careful to only try twice each time. It seems like it's the same letters at the beginning, but the numbers at the end change. I thought it might be a sequence, but it doesn't seem to have a pattern I can discern. This requires someone with hacking skills, so we need to get Sly or Walter in that office. If I can figure out a way to require their temp services for Purvis while he's out for a while, maybe they could get into his computer."

"That's not a bad idea," Walter nodded looking surprised and impressed, "You could spill something on the keyboard and ask for me specifically from the worker pool. I'll make sure I complete any job I am assigned early that day before you request someone from IT. Do you have an idea when Purvis will be out of the office for any length of time?"

"There is a managers' meeting at 1:00 on Friday afternoon. I can spill my drink from lunch on his desk making sure the majority gets on his keyboard. I have to act like a bubblehead around him all the time, so he won't suspect a thing as long as I wear a short skirt and bat my eyelashes," Paige answered, looking a little queasy.

Walter's mouth compressed in distaste then he replied, "Make sure it's a drink with sugar in it like soda. And try not to get any on the actual computer if you can help it. That might slow us down. Since I will have to bring a replacement keyboard, I may be able to sneak a jump drive in too. If not, you will need to be sure you have the printer well stocked with paper."

"How would we sneak out that many documents?" Paige asked.

"Purvis' office window has security bars and safety glass, but at least it's on the ground floor." Walter thought for a moment then asked, "Happy, do you think you could fabricate an excuse to 'work on' those bars and break that window?"

"Sure. It's on the alley side of the building, so there's not a lot of traffic. I will compromise the bars tomorrow night making it look like they are starting to rust through in places. I'll make up a fake work order for myself, so when I replace them on Friday, if anyone asks, I have the paperwork. Then when I'm taking off the old bars, I'll 'accidentally' bash in the window with one of my tools. That way, I would have an excuse to replace that too. We can pass the documents through the window and load them in my toolbox and the boxes for the replacement bars and window. Only two problems I can see. The security camera in the alley, and I'm going to need help carrying that much stuff."

"If we take care of the camera, help won't be an issue. Cabe and Toby can park in the alley and help you load up. And I know a way to take that camera out. We'll use 'Birdronie'. We'll have him dive bomb the camera and leave something on the lens. By the time they get a work order to fix the camera, you will be long gone," Walter stated.

"No! Not Birdronie!" Sylvester groaned, "He barely survived Mexico!"

"Necessary sacrifices for the greater good, Sly," Toby said patting Sylvester's shoulder.

"We will only have about forty-five minutes to get all this done. These meetings don't last all that long," Paige said.

After a bit more discussion of details, the meeting adjourned and the plan was in place.

Walter was feeling more optimistic than he'd felt all week. Maybe when the case was over he would ask Paige if something was bothering her…or maybe he would ask Toby to do it.


	5. Chapter 5

**KRYPTONITE**

 **CHAPTER 5**

As with most Scorpion cases, this one started out proceeding as expected.

…until everything went to hell.

Thursday evening's part of the plan went smoothly at first. At 11:00pm, Happy and Walter met in the alley behind the building next door to the Helping Hands offices. From that vantage, they were able to keep themselves and their vehicles out of range and still have an eye line to the security camera.

Keeping as silent as possible, Happy attached a balloon filled with white paint and disguised as a mouse to Birdronie's beak end and a similar weight to the back end. Walter remotely guided the drone at top speed to ram the camera lens. It was a direct hit! No surprise, since Walter was a self-proclaimed expert with a joystick. Now it would appear to the security department that a bird flew into the camera and did what birds frequently do on objects left outdoors.

Still using stealth, they grabbed Happy's toolbox and quickly slipped over to Purvis' office window. They chemically corroded the burglar bars and weakened them a bit further using a hacksaw. No one appeared in the alley while they were working and Walter and Happy thought for sure they were home free.

The coworkers gathered the supplies. Walter picked up the toolbox and they started back toward Happy's truck. Unfortunately, they both forgot Birdronie was resting on the ground a few feet away from the 'company car'. Walter tripped over the drone in the dark and went down hard. The toolbox hit the ground seconds later with a tremendous crash, bursting open and sending tools flying in all directions. Watching her tools falling all around, Happy didn't look where she was walking and tripped over Walter. She fell in a heap on top of her boss, knocking the remaining air out of him and bumping his head with hers. A ball peen hammer slammed to the ground an instant later, an inch from Walter's face and a set of sockets rained down all around them, peppering them as they alit.

"Good going, Walter!" Happy snapped, "They might not have eyes back here anymore, but anyone with ears in a five mile radius heard that!"

"Get off!" Walter croaked from underneath the irate mechanic.

As they both scrambled up, they began picking up as many tools as they could see by the meager illumination of the single streetlight and the flashlights on their cell phones.

"You are going to buy me a new toolbox, O'Brien!" Happy hissed, "And you _will_ replace any tools we can't find!"

Walter answered in a tight voice, "Oh, we have a bigger problem than that. We need to make sure we find as many tools as possible. Otherwise, someone is going to figure out the 'misfortune' with the camera and the burglar bars was actually sabotage."

The two of them frantically searched for and collected as many things as they could find. They were loading everything into the back of Happy's truck, when they saw a flashlight beam and heard someone shout, "Hey!"

The voice paused for a few seconds then said, "Patricia? Is that you?"

Walter and Happy froze for a moment then they turned in unison toward the voice.

Shielding her eyes against the light, Happy answered, "Uh, yes? I'm…Patricia. Who's there?"

"Oh, sorry," the voice replied and aimed the beam at the ground while still approaching the truck.

As unobtrusively as possible, Walter slid Birdronie underneath the truck with his foot.

"It's Henry," the voice continued, "from security. Remember you tweaked my desktop fan for me the other day? It stopped squeaking and it's worked like a charm ever since. What are you doing back here this late?"

At this point, Henry stopped about 10 feet away from them.

"Oh, um, hey, Henry. Well, see… this is my, uh, b-boyfriend, Wa…, uh, Clark," Happy awkwardly took Walter's hand in hers and said haltingly, "We went for some dinner after work and, you know, got to talking. Didn't realize how late it was getting. Uh, he was just bringing me back to my truck."

Walter's eyes were wide and his smile was brittle as he stood stiffly beside Happy obviously uncomfortable. She bumped him with her shoulder and he managed, "Oh, uh, hello."

Looking at the two of them like they were out of their minds, Henry said, "O-K. I heard a loud noise out here a few minutes ago and for some reason the alley camera is out of order. I was just coming to check things out. Did you two see anything?"

Walter and Happy shook their heads with false innocence. "Nothing." "Nope." They said at the same time and Walter cleared his throat.

"Well, I don't see anything either. You guys need to move along now. Have a good night."

Walter and Happy watched Henry walk away then swiftly dropped hands.

"What was that, Happy?" Walter demanded while unconsciously wiping his hand on his shirt.

He was rewarded with a contemptuous look when Happy answered, "It was the best cover I could come up with in the 5 seconds I had. And you weren't helping standing there like a statue!"

"Oh, okay. Well, let's get the rest of the stuff and clear out of here before something else happens."

Walter retrieved the drone from under the truck and shined his light one more time around the alley checking for stray tools. Then the two of them got in their vehicles and took off.

Walter told himself the next day would work out better. It was the law of averages.

 **AN: This is a short chapter, but the next one is already written and just needs to be typed and edited. Hope you're still with me!**


	6. Chapter 6

**KRYPTONITE**

 **CHAPTER 6**

 ***drum roll* And now...the Waige chapter we've all been waiting for:**

Scorpion defied the law of averages. Walter truly loathed this case.

Friday morning, Happy called in sick at Helping Hands according to the plan. She would stay at the garage, make sure her fake paperwork looked legit then show up at Purvis' window at 1:10.

Sylvester reported for duty at the usual time, but he would make some excuse to leave and meet the team back at the garage at 2:30. He could then start combing through the documents the team discovered and help look for anomalies.

Paige left for work shortly after Sly, a sugary soda tucked in her purse. She was to park in the alley and check to see if the camera lens was still covered or if someone was outside working on it, and text Happy before she had to leave her phone at security.

All systems were go, until the trouble started with Walter. Of course. When he checked in to work that morning, he was told he had to attend an all-day customer service training course. It seemed some of the clients complained about his 'superior attitude' when he fixed their computer equipment. He protested that his work was always done satisfactorily and that outcome was more important than his attitude. But he was informed he would attend the class or not be welcome back at Helping Hands in the future. He couldn't afford to get fired, so he reluctantly acquiesced, his mind swimming with possible ways to get a message to either Paige or Happy. At least the classroom was onsite, but he wasn't allowed a cell phone and was ushered into the lecture before he could get a message to the switchboard.

Walter sat fuming in the ridiculous class listening to an entirely too enthusiastic instructor gush ad nauseam about the importance of not only quality work, but 'leaving the customer with a great feeling'. He would have zoned out altogether by running statistics and probabilities for the case, but the participants were frequently required to respond to inquiries about the resolutions to possible conflicts with clients. He tried his best to think about what Paige would say, and kept his answers as short as possible. Walter needed the instructor to tolerate him because he was going to require her sympathy when he faked sick at lunch. He _had_ to talk to Paige and catch her before she submitted that work order for computer service.

After lunch, Walter wasn't sick, but he was extremely irritated. He hadn't been alone long enough to sneak away since he got there. Even during breaks, everyone was herded around like sheep. It was 12:50pm before he could convince the ignorant 'teacher' his need for the bathroom was urgent. As it was, she told him in her annoyingly perky tone that if he didn't return in ten minutes, he wouldn't get credit for the course and he would have to repeat the nonsense the following week. If things would just go in the right direction for once during this case, he would never have to come back to their stupid company ever again. Feeling rather vindictive, he hoped more than ever they would find the evidence they needed to shut the doors of Helping Hands for good and he was more motivated than before to close the case.

Walter sneaked past the men's room and slipped into the stairwell. Taking the stairs down two at a time, he came out on the ground floor around the corner from Purvis' office. Hoping security wasn't monitoring the hallway cameras sufficiently, and that was likely because they were short staffed around lunchtime, he loitered around waiting for Paige's lout of a boss to leave for his meeting. It was now improbable he would be able to stop her before she called for the repair work, but if he could get to her, maybe they would have time to cancel the work order and make another plan.

Just then, the office door opened and he heard Paige's voice sounding distressed, "I'm _so_ very sorry, Mr. Purvis! I'm just _so_ clumsy. I'll get this cleaned up right away, sir."

The man's reply made Walter clench his fists.

"That's okay, Zoe, honey. I'll let you make it up to me later when I get back from my meeting," his voice was oozing with smarminess, "Just get someone in here to fix up my computer while I'm gone and you will need to step out while they are working. Remember, I don't just keep you around for decoration, sugar, even if it would be well worth it!" The degenerate chuckled to himself and waddled out the door toward the elevator. Walter was unsurprised the fat slob chose to take the elevator rather than climbing a flight of stairs.

When he was sure Purvis was gone and the hall was clear, Walter ducked inside the office with Paige and closed the door quietly.

"Have you already called to request service?" He whispered.

Paige jumped and turned around, "About five minutes ago. You startled me. I didn't hear you come in. Why are you being so sneaky and why didn't you bring a new keyboard with you?"

While Paige wiped up the sticky spilled soda on the desk, Walter took a precious few minutes to explain what happened. As he related the information about the class and the reason he had to take it, Paige smiled and her lips twitched as if she was holding laughter at bay. He was mesmerized momentarily by the look on her face. He realized they hadn't been alone together in quite some time and he missed her acutely.

The phone rang and broke the spell. It was the IT department calling to say someone was already on the way and reminding Paige to go elsewhere while he worked.

Paige said, "We have to go somewhere, Walter. I'm not allowed to be in here while the computer guy works and you're supposed to be at the customer service lecture."

"We can't leave. I can't get caught and sent back to that class. Happy will be here to work on the window soon. We'll have to hide until the repairs get done so I can use the new keyboard. What's in there?" he asked pointing to a door on the other side of the room.

"A storage closet…" Paige began, but before she could finish, Walter grabbed her wrist and started towing her across the office toward the door. "…but it's packed full of old junk. I'm not even sure both of us will fit in there."

The two of them managed to squeeze into a square foot of space between an old metal shelving unit and a scarred wooden desk. Walter shut the door behind them just as the outer office door opened admitting the service tech.

Paige and Walter stood face to face in the tiny space so close the toes of her shoes were in between his. They heard muttering and the sounds of repairs being made to Purvis' computer while they stood unspeaking in the dark. Walter could feel Paige's body heat and his pulse ratcheted up. He also acknowledged that something from the metal shelf was stabbing him in the side. He tried to adjust his position, but there was nowhere to go.

In the light from the crack under the door, Paige must have seen Walter grimace with discomfort and felt him squirming. She leaned impossibly closer and whispered faintly, "What's wrong?"

"Part of a shelf is broken and it's poking my side. I'll survive," he murmured back.

"No, here."

Paige jumped up to sit on the desk and wiggled backward until she was stopped by a stack of boxes behind her. Then she pulled Walter forward by his forearms to stand between her legs.

Oh, boy.

Well, now the shelf wasn't stabbing him, but this scenario was its own brand of torture. She was wearing one of those mini skirts she favored and it hiked up slightly when she sat on the desk. He was suddenly hyper aware of every nuance of Paige and he was battling with himself to behave like a friend/colleague.

Feeling muddled, Walter couldn't figure out what to do with his hands, so he found himself resting them on her knees. Without his cognizant permission, his thumbs began stroking circles on the soft skin.

Paige's breath hitched and she leaned toward him slightly.

Walter rested his cheek against her temple. His heart was pounding making him dizzy. He felt intoxicated by her proximity, drunk on her warmth and her familiar scent. He swallowed hard as he bent his head and his lips grazed her ear. "Paige," he sighed, fighting for control.

He felt her nod and she exhaled against his neck sending shivers all through him.

Paige trailed her fingertips slowly up the backs of his arms to his shoulders. He moved a bit closer and her fingers tangled in the short hair at the nape of his neck caressing him gently there.

Walter groaned quietly and his toes curled inside his shoes. Seemingly of its own volition, his left hand slipped up the outside of Paige's thigh until it reached her hip, then slid up to the small of her back. Pressing with his palm, he pulled her dangerously closer. She placed the flat of her feet on the backs of his legs and bracketed his hips with her thighs.

Unable to stop himself, he slowly brushed a trail with his lips across her cheek and barely touched the corner of her mouth with his.

"Walter," she breathed.

What air remained between them crackled with electricity as they resisted one more second before finally giving in and kissing fully. Paige moaned softly as Walter's mouth claimed hers. Her lips parted and his tongue delved between them. She shuddered against him and he growled deep in his throat. Walter was consumed by Paige as their tongues tangled and their lips pressed and parted then came together again in an ever increasing frenzy.

His hand wandered from the small of her back up under the hem of her shirt to touch her warm, smooth skin. She rewarded him by nipping tenderly at his bottom lip then soothing it with her tongue.

Completely caught up, he broke away slightly and gasped, "Love you. Love you so much," before kissing her hungrily again.

There was a thunderous crash on the other side of the door and the sound of glass shattering.

Paige and Walter pulled apart and stared at one another in the dimness, blinking and dazed and breathing hard.

"Hey, guys?! Where the hell are you?" came Happy's muffled voice.

 **AN: I spend way too much time thinking about what would need to happen to make a man like Walter forget logic and react emotionally. This is one of the scenarios that lives in my head. Hope you enjoyed it!**


	7. Chapter 7

**KRYPTONITE**

 **CHAPTER 7**

 **AN: Well, I learned my lesson. Never upload 2 chapters in the same 24 hours. Almost no one read chapter 6. If you didn't read it, please go back to it first or you won't know why Walter is bursting out of a storage closet...**

Walter leapt over obstacles and shot out of the storage closet door as if blasted from a cannon. He was unable to make himself look back to see if Paige was following. He leaned over and put his hands on his knees for an instant, trying to regain his breath and some semblance of equilibrium after that… _encounter_ with Paige. What the hell was that? He had never been affected to that degree over a kiss or a touch. He filed that information away to be considered later and forced himself to put the whole incident from his mind the best he could. It was necessary to concentrate on what needed to be done.

Not even acknowledging Happy's presence, Walter made a beeline for the computer with its brand new keyboard. He was relieved to note the computer service tech must have left before the mechanic's noisy entrance. Staring at the screen and typing furiously, he refused to look at anything or anyone even peripherally, partly because they had even less time now than before to complete this phase of the plan, and partly because he felt like what he'd just been doing in the closet was conspicuously written all over his face. He _needed_ to focus. Now. In the background he could hear Happy and Paige muttering as they picked up the broken glass from the window. He also realized Happy kept looking at him oddly, but he could not stop for anything if he was going to get this job done.

The only issue was Paige's presence was like a feather tickling the back of his neck, making him want to hunch his shoulders. Walter was so attuned to her now. He had always been alert to her nearness, but now his awareness of her was off the charts.

Adrenaline pumped and Walter's fingers were flying over the keys. Soon he heard the printer queue up and documents began spewing forth. Ignoring the booty call and porn sites, he printed everything in Purvis' hard drive he thought might be relevant.

Meanwhile Paige and Happy quietly and efficiently began filling Happy's new toolbox and the other boxes she brought. They only stopped long enough to reload paper once in a while. Maybe Paige wasn't as shaken as he was? Somehow Walter didn't like that thought.

Toby's and Cabe's faces appeared at the window. In perfect accord, Happy, Paige and Walter started handing the full boxes out to them. Once during that process, Paige's hand brushed Walter's causing a jolt of electricity similar to a static shock. Okay, wow. He averted his gaze and kept working while the printer kept humming.

When all the boxes were loaded in the SUV, Happy climbed back out the window and was preparing to install the new safety glass and replace the bars while Walter took one last pass at the computer to see if he missed anything. When he was confident he found everything pertinent, he began to delete any evidence he'd been searching through the files. It would have been so much easier if they could have just stolen the computer or the hard drive, but Homeland wanted everything done under the radar with discretion. They didn't want Helping Hands to be alerted, giving the crooked company a chance to hide their inventory and their tracks again.

Walter knew he was pushing the outer limits of the time constraints, because it was nearly two o'clock when he was completing the process. He was planning to exit out the window. He had no intention of returning to the job at Helping Hands and if he left out of the regular egress, he ran the risk of being caught by security or running into someone from the customer service class. Much to her dismay, Paige would be stuck working at the company at least until the end of the day. She had to stay and make sure no one was suspicious.

Happy, Toby and Cabe were rushing Walter to finish and go, so he muttered something to Paige about seeing her back at the garage. He had one leg out the open window straddling the sill, when Purvis burst through the office door.

His mouth fell open and he roared, "What the hell is going on in here?!"

So much for being discreet.

Walter froze halfway out the window and Paige's eyes widened and the color drained from her face. Walter held out his hand intending for her to follow him outside while Happy was furiously beckoning Cabe to back the SUV up closer to them.

Paige sprinted toward Walter's outstretched hand. Purvis lunged for his desk, withdrew a gun from the bottom drawer, cocked it and aimed directly at Paige's fleeing back.

When she was just outside Walter's reach, Purvis gritted out through clenched teeth, "Stop right there."

Up to this point, the whole team had viewed him as a ludicrous, slightly disgusting but harmless joke forgetting entirely he was part of a clever criminal enterprise. Under any other circumstance, the absurd, rotund little man with the sparse hair combed over his shiny scalp would be laughable like a character in a cartoon. But with his beady eyes staring and his mouth twisted in fury and loathing and a gun cocked in his pudgy yet strangely steady fingers, he was reminiscent of a creepy clown in the worst childhood nightmares.

"Careful, now," Walter said, raising his hands and trying to sound calm. He was keenly mindful of the danger to Paige, and his brain was whirring trying to think of a way to get her out of this situation safely. "We don't want anyone hurt."

"Speak for yourself, asshole," Purvis spat, eyes narrowed and all traces of joviality gone from his demeanor, "I want back everything you took or I'm going to put a bullet in the back of her head. You don't want to test me on that."

Just then, Cabe popped up beside Walter and fired off a wild shot from his service weapon into the ceiling.

Purvis was startled for just long enough that Walter was able to make a grab for Paige and shove her out the window into Toby's waiting arms. He clambered out himself while Purvis and Cabe exchanged a few rounds. They all piled into the back of the SUV and before they could even shut the doors, Happy pulled away from the building with tires squealing. Cabe yelled at everyone to stay down.

Purvis was hanging out the broken office window firing at the speeding vehicle and bellowing for security. One of the bullets crashed through the back glass and exited out the windshield inches from Happy's right ear.

"Damned armor piercing bullets," she exclaimed as she sped away toward the garage.

 **AN2: Please review. It's the only way I know if you want me to continue. Otherwise I could just be babbling on like a drunk, annoying uncle at a family reunion. I'd rather hear 'Step up the pace, it's getting boring' to crickets chirping.**


	8. Chapter 8

**KRYPTONITE**

 **CHAPTER 8**

Deputy Director Cooper was not pleased to put it mildly. Neither was the FBI. Neither was the LAPD. Nor were the local branches of the Marines or Navy. But Cabe reassured each and every one in turn that Scorpion would eventually manage to fix things.

"Okay, gang. What are we going to do to fix things?" Cabe asked after disconnecting with yet another irate higher-up.

The whole crew, now including Ralph, was standing around the conference table staring at the piles of documents from the temp agency.

"We are looking at what is shortly to be the only evidence left in this case. The staff at Helping Hands is probably shredding files, notifying suppliers and buyers, and destroying hard drives as we speak. We'd better find something in this mess or they are going to hide their inventory, liquidate their assets and flee before any arrests can be made," Cabe finished.

Walter _really_ detested this case.

He was supremely irked and it radiated off of him in waves as he pinched the bridge of his nose and said in clipped tones, "Right. Paige, you and Toby work on the personnel files. Paige can differentiate between temp employees and permanent employees. Toby can look into backgrounds for criminal history or connections to organized crime or law enforcement. Happy, you take the shipping manifests. Try to find anything referring to moving goods or false deliveries or where they might be warehousing things. Sly and Ralph take the accounts and look for inconsistencies or any names of customers that stand out. I'll hack into Helping Hands phone records and see if anything is off there."

Cabe lifted an eyebrow at the last statement, but refrained from comment.

"And, Cabe," Walter went on unfazed, "If you have any good will left at the LAPD, could you go with them to pick up our cars from the employee lot and see if you can snoop around a little to see if the building is being evacuated? I'm not worried about the cell phones we left with their security department this morning since we were using burners. But Paige, is there anything in your purse that might identify us?"

"No. I just had my fake ID and a few sundries in it. I knew not to take anything important into that office with me. I'm really going to miss that bag though."

A little stunned, everyone stopped and looked at Paige like she was crazy.

"What? It was one of my favorites! Don't worry, I know it's a lost cause," she replied dismissively.

The team got to work on the stacks of files while Cabe made a few phone calls and left shortly after. Dividing and conquering was the most efficient game plan, but it was still slow-going and tedious. Helping Hands was very talented at hiding any nefarious activities.

Cabe returned to the garage just after seven o'clock toting a tray of sandwiches and said, "I figure it's gonna be a long night. Everyone take a break and eat. Let's have a status update."

Although irritated by the interruption of the work, Walter recognized the need for everyone to fuel up. He had a throbbing headache himself from too much caffeine and staring at phone records trying to spot patterns.

They all descended on the food like a swarm of locusts before anyone even thought about sharing their findings, so Walter got the conversation started by saying, "I haven't found anything suspicious in the phone records. I don't know how they are communicating with buyers, but it's not by their regular office phone system."

Slapping a second half of a Rueben sub on his plate, Cabe said, "It was strangely 'business as usual' around that office. The camera in the alley and the glass on the window were fixed, but other than that, no one seemed to be in panic mode and the building wasn't locked down or empty yet."

"All of the debits and credits in the books look pretty standard too," Sylvester said around his hoagie with extra pickles, "They made regular donations to local charities and they all check out as real. The only one we found that's even slightly off is a consistently large quarterly contribution to an organization called 'The Global Awareness Foundation'. When we looked them up, their address is a PO Box in San Diego and the phone number goes to voicemail."

Ralph nodded while chewing and swallowing a bite of his pb and j on wheat. Then he added, "I hacked the voicemail account, but there were no saved messages."

Happy pointed to Sly and Ralph with her half sandwich, "Wait, did you say 'Global Awareness Foundation'?"

They both nodded this time, mouths too busy eating to answer audibly.

Happy said, "I found several odd shipments to a GAF in the manifests. None of them listed an address or specified what was sent. That's why I flagged them. But if all we have is a PO Box, we still don't know where to look."

"Just a second," Paige jumped in, "I think I remember something related in Purvis' company emails I was just sorting through. Every so often, he got an invitation to a 'benefit' for Global Awareness. The emails always said 'attendance mandatory'. I thought that was strange for a party."

She walked over to her desk and began riffling through a stack of papers until she came across what she needed. "Yes. Here they are. There are actually two different locations listed on these invitations. One is an address and one just says 'The Candy Factory'. I thought that might be a nightclub or something."

Walter dropped his sandwich onto his plate and absently brushed his hands on his pants as he returned to his computer. "Give me the address. I'll look it up. And wasn't there an old candy factory across the street and a few doors east of Helping Hands. Sly, see who owns that old factory and Happy, see if the dates on the emails line up with the shipments."

While Sylvester, Happy, Paige and Walter worked together, Toby sat with his feet propped up in Happy's vacant chair frowning in thought. Then he blurted, "Gloria Dowden!" and shot up, dashed to his desk and began rapidly typing on his laptop.

"What have you got, Doc?" Cabe asked.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Toby exclaimed, elated, "I've got you!"

"What? Spill it!" Cabe said, getting impatient.

Toby turned his laptop around and said, "Meet Gloria Dowden, the ex Mrs. Perverts who just happens to have a connection to GAF as well."

The team looked at an employee ID photo of a buxom, bottle-blonde with pouty red lips on Toby's screen.

" _She_ was married to Purvis?!" Sly said, looking incredulous.

"No doubt for the monetary advantage. I can't say I blame her for going back to her maiden name. Ms. Dowden was a former non-temp employee of Helping Hands, so her info was in the files. She started her own custodial service three years ago when she and Depraved Donald split. Her company still cleans the Helping Hands offices and guess who else is on her clients list? That's right. Global Awareness. But that's not all. I just found where her service regularly cleans at the downtown cop shop for a low, low price. What do you wanna bet she's got a sugar daddy on the squad? …Hypothetical bet, of course," Toby quickly added when Happy glared at him.

It turned out the factory was owned by a shell corporation and the address was in a warehouse district close to a marina, so logic dictated the next step was to split up and handle all the leads at once.

"Cabe, I think you should pick up Gloria Dowden for questioning," Walter suggested, "and Toby can help with the interrogation. Ralph should stay here and collate every piece of information we have on the GAF while the rest of us check out these locations…"

Happy and Paige began to protest before he could even complete his ideas. Paige expressed her concern about leaving her son around the possibly criminal blonde bimbo. Happy protested loudly about leaving her boyfriend around the possibly criminal and certainly sexy blonde bimbo even when Toby assured her he only had eyes for her.

Pressing the heels of his hands to his eyes, Walter explained, "We don't have time to wait until they finish questioning this woman. And we don't know how much information they will get from her anyway. Right now all we have is suspicions. That isn't enough for search warrants, let alone raids and arrests. We have to have something solid to turn over to the authorities and every minute we waste is a minute they can use to bury evidence. We need photos of illegal goods or activities. Paige can go with me and be my lookout while I snoop. Sly can go with Happy as her lookout."

Studying her fingernails, Paige said, "I think I'd rather go with Happy on this one, if you don't mind."

Walter sucked in a breath sharply to combat an unpleasant feeling in his chest, his thoughts racing. What? Where did that come from? It was their routine to work together on cases, wasn't it? That way he could make sure she was safe from harm. Not that Happy couldn't take care of her…or she hadn't proven she could take care of herself. Paige had been acting even more distant since the 'closet incident'. She didn't look at him and stepped away when he was close. He knew they needed to have a conversation about what happened, but the case had to come first, didn't it?

Convincing himself he didn't feel bewildered and hurt, Walter locked down those thoughts and said, "Okay. I guess Sylvester and I will take the factory near Helping Hands. Happy, you and Paige take the other address and we will meet back here and compare our findings."

 **AN: Thanks for all the reviews! You made my day, so here is a new chapter for you.**


	9. Chapter 9

**KRYPTONITE**

 **CHAPTER 9**

Gloria Dowden wasn't the sharpest needle in the sewing kit, but she wasn't pinheaded enough to talk in front of Cabe, at least initially. Solely relying on her background information and what could be deduced from her behavior, Toby convinced her within thirty seconds he was a psychic hired by the police to question her. After that, she sang like the prima donna in an opera. Gloria told them everything they wanted to know and many things they _really_ didn't.

Walter heard the whole exchange through the comms. He found himself grudgingly admiring the shrink's skills at manipulation as he and Sylvester crouched atop a vacant building adjacent to the Helping Hands office. The vantage gave them a perfect view of both the headquarters for the company and the old factory across the street. The office was eerily quiet and dark. In contrast, the factory was an anthill of activity. The lights were blazing and people and forklifts busily moved crates, boxes and pallets into unmarked white vans and trucks. The pair got video of the action and took photos of license plates.

Happy and Paige found a similar commotion at the warehouse near the marina except those workers appeared to be receiving goods and preparing them for loading onto ships. The two of them got footage of the happenings there.

All the video and photos were forwarded to Cabe and Toby. Cabe was in touch with the FBI and they were trying to get warrants issued using the documents at the garage, the footage from the sites and Ms. Dowden's testimony.

A little while later, they heard Cabe say, "Good work everyone! I just got word a judge signed off on the warrants and the FBI and LAPD are sending teams to the Global Awareness sites. You guys can pack it in and come back now."

Then Toby's voice filled their ears, "Well, the LAPD without Gabby Gloria's soon to be ex-boyfriend and inside man, who is currently a guest in his own jailhouse, you mean. That's thanks entirely to Scorpion's only Harvard trained behaviorist, talented fake psychic and don't forget incredibly attractive shrink. Impressed, Happy?"

Happy rolled her eyes.

"I can hear you rolling your eyes, woman. That hurts my feelings."

"Suck it up, Doc. We're on our way over to Walt and Sly's location," Happy replied smirking, "We kinda want to watch the cops swoop in and nail these guys. And help make sure no one gets away in the chaos."

Walter only listened with half an ear to their chatter, because he was thinking. His decisions were almost always based in logic. He was too cerebral to put a lot of faith in gut instinct, but something just felt _off_ to him. It was bothering him that no one was removing computer equipment or files or anything else from that office when it seemed like the activity at the factory was wrapping up quickly with only two trucks left to load. In spite of the optimism of the team and law enforcement, he kept a wary eye on the activities below.

Out of the corner of his eye, the genius caught a glimpse of furtive movement in the alley by the office building. On closer inspection, he saw Purvis and two other men, holding boxes and sneaking into a side door. As he watched, one man stooped and picked something up off the ground and wedged it in the doorjamb to prop it open. Curiosity about why the men were slipping into the obviously abandoned structure caused Walter to signal Sly then creep quietly down the fire escape and slink over to the side door. It amused him to note it was propped open with one of Happy's missing hammers from the exploding toolbox incident the night before. He yanked it out of the jamb and threaded the handle through his belt. Well, that was one less missing tool he would have to pay to replace.

Walter edged inside staying against the wall. His eyes had adjusted to the semi-dark outside, but now it was suffocatingly black and he was briefly blind. He wished for night vision goggles or heat sensors, because he dared not use a flashlight or even his cell phone to light his way. He heard the sound of footsteps somewhere to his right and decided to follow along. Using what he remembered of the layout of the ground floor and the light from the exit signs to guide him, he made his way along gradually, following the whispering, tapping and rustling of the men. The trio of men split up, so he followed the one he thought was Purvis. That's when he smelled the potent odor of kerosene. Well, that explained why they weren't clearing out the equipment or files. They were planning to incinerate it all. Not wanting to give away his position, he didn't communicate his realization to anyone.

The next thing Walter knew, he heard a loud whoosh and soon he had more than enough light to see. Unfortunately, it also meant he needed to get out of there expeditiously as the heat and flames were scorching and the acrid smoke was already burning his eyes and making him choke. He set off at a dead run toward the side door where he'd entered.

He skidded around the corner just in time to see one of the men struggling to find the right key for the lock. Obviously they had wedged the hammer in the door to expedite their exit. Purvis was yelling at the man to hurry it up when he looked up and spied Walter bolting toward them at top speed.

Just then, the right key slid home and they thrust the door open. Clean night air rushed in as the three men nimbly dashed out, Purvis looking over his shoulder with a deadly, smug smile. Walter reached the door just as it slammed shut and he heard the snick of the dead bolt locking it from the other side. He spent a few precious seconds pushing at the door and rattling the knob, but it was a steel door in a metal frame. It was no use. He wasn't getting out through there.

Rapidly considering his options, he remembered he went to the right to follow the men, so he would now go to the left where they most likely hadn't spread any accelerant. He knew all the windows and the front door were covered with burglar bars so he eliminated them as possible escapes. Then he recalled Cabe said they replaced the glass in Purvis' office, but he didn't say anything about the bars. Hoping they hadn't been restored, he sped down the hall in that direction.

By that time, he could hear the team shouting in his ear to get out of there as if he weren't trying his damnedest.

Walter burst through the door hearing the building groan where it was warping in the heat. Fortunately, this area was as yet, mostly unaffected, but he knew it wouldn't be long until the whole structure was engulfed. He slammed the door shut against the gathering smoke and swept toward the window. He was thinking about how to break the safety glass, when his hand fell to the claw of the hammer at his waist. Laughing, he pulled it out of his belt and smashed it into the glass. It took a few tries, but he was able to break out an area large enough to get out.

He looked back briefly and saw smoke rolling under the door and an ominous orange glow around the frame. The heat was stifling. Then he spied Paige's purse on the floor beside the desk she'd used. It was stupid. He knew it was stupid, but part of his mind thought if he retrieved her favorite bag for her, it might help mend the rift between them.

He flew across the room, stooped to grab the purse trying to stay low and was about to leave when he spied an address book taped on the underside of the middle drawer of the desk. Not stopping to think, he tore the address book down and rushed to jump out of the window.

Walter crossed the alley and leaned against the wall of the building next door gasping. Above the scream of sirens, the crackling of flames and the shattering of glass, he heard his cyclone yelling his name over the comms as they ran toward him.

They reached him a few seconds later, their facial expressions ranging from terror to disbelief to concern to relief.

He handed the hammer to Happy and wheezed, "Here. This saved my life." Then he turned to Paige and held out her purse, rasping, "Oh, and I got your bag for you," before succumbing to a fit of coughing.

 **AN: I'm as anxious as the rest of you to get to the Waige confrontation, but I felt like I needed to resolve the case first. We're almost there. Be patient a little longer. I'll try to make it worth your while. ;-)**


	10. Chapter 10

**KRYPTONITE**

 **CHAPTER 10**

Much to Walter's annoyance, the paramedics insisted he have treatment for smoke inhalation on the scene, so he was forced into inactivity in the back of an ambulance during the searches of the sites and the subsequent arrests of many of the Helping Hands employees. Sylvester gleefully related to him, in detail, the events of Purvis' capture. Apparently, the nasty little man had been cursing and blustering about attorneys and lawsuits when they cuffed him and shoved him in the back of a police car. Walter would tell Cabe to make sure attempted murder was included in the long list of charges against him.

Happy and Sly slipped away surreptitiously as soon as they could, leaving Walter to give Paige a ride back to the garage. The other two geniuses could tell Walter desperately needed to clear the air with her.

The short sixteen minute drive felt interminable. They only spoke about ten words. Paige asked how he was feeling, and he couldn't think of any other answer than his standard, "Fine." And then she thanked him for rescuing her purse. His brilliant reply was to that was, "Of course." And that was it. The rest of the trip was spent in oppressive silence with Paige staring out the passenger side window.

The trouble was it was usually Paige begging _him_ to open up. He had no idea how to broach a delicate subject. Tactful he was not and never had been. And his own feelings were so tangled up he was having a hard time sorting them, let alone expressing them. She was normally the one to help him understand. Maybe he should schedule an appointment for the two of them with Dr. Rizzuto. Or perhaps he could ask Toby to analyze her to get to the bottom of her peculiar behavior.

Walter pulled the car into the parking area behind the garage and shifted into park. Almost before they were fully stopped, Paige was unfastening her seatbelt and opening her door preparing to get out.

At a loss, he trailed behind her inside. Cabe met him at the door and slapped him heartily on the back.

"We did good work today, son," Cabe said, all smiles.

Walter's eyes followed Paige. He didn't feel much like celebrating. He fished around in his pocket for the address book he'd found in Purvis' office and handed it off to Cabe.

"I don't know if this has any significance, but I found it at the scene and wanted to make sure I turned it over just in case," Walter said distractedly.

"I'll look at it. Are you sure you're okay?" Cabe asked.

This time he answered truthfully, "I don't know."

It was past midnight when Walter came downstairs from the loft intending to turn off the lights and lock up before retiring and pretending to sleep. Thinking everyone had left much earlier, he was momentarily surprised to see Ralph asleep on the red couch. His heart throbbed painfully as his eyes automatically searched for and found Paige at her desk still buried in paperwork. She looked exhausted and impossibly beautiful. The words 'Damn, I _love_ her' ran through his mind before he could quell them.

"Oh, uh, hey," he said quietly, not wanting to startle her, "I thought you were long gone."

She looked up at his approach and said, "I'm just finishing up. I didn't want anything left over on Monday if I could help it. We'll be out of your way before long."

Walter felt a pang at her words. She and Ralph had never been in his way. Instead of expressing that, he said, "I don't blame you. I don't want to be reminded of this case either."

Silence fell and stretched on as Paige continued filling out forms, until Walter finally broke down and asked, "Why are you mad at me? I've been wracking my brain and I can't figure out what I did. I know I'm clueless a lot of the time, so tell me... Please?" _I miss you_ he thought, but couldn't say it.

Paige sighed and said, "I'm not mad at you. I'm trying to get over... some unhealthy feelings. The only way I think I can do that, is to keep a professional distance. I'm sorry if I caused any confusion."

Get over…? Him? Walter felt a little light-headed and sick.

"I-I think we need to talk about what happened earlier. You, uh, know. In the closet? Don't you think so?" Walter finally asked, grasping at straws because he could feel her slipping away and he couldn't bear it.

"I'd rather not," she said, looking down at her paperwork once more.

Irrationally, he wanted to rip up the papers on her desk and scatter them around the room. Paige _always_ wanted to discuss things. She always wanted everything out in the open.

Sounding calmer than he felt, he asked, "You don't? Why not?"

She pressed her fingertips to her temples and irritation was clear in her tone as she answered, "No, Walter, I don't. I just can't deal with another discussion with another man about how much more important his job is than me or my son. I don't want to hear it again. First Drew chose baseball over us. It was his 'dream' and how could I possibly ask him to give that up? Even Tim! We didn't make it all the way to Tahoe before he got a call and he told me the SEALS were his life and it would be impossible to keep up any kind of stable relationship with him gone all the time and having to be secretive about everything," her voice was now escalating in volume, "Good thing I was never in love with him! And then there's _you_! For more than a year you've let me get close only to push me away again. Then you tell me in no uncertain terms that any feelings we might have 'need to be buried and left alone' if they interfere with the goals of Scorpion! You practically shoved me out the door to be with someone else! Believe me, I finally get the message! So forgive me if I don't want to hear you tell me your feelings for me are detrimental to your job. Again! I might just pull all my hair out. If and when I'm ever ready to date again, I'm going for a nice window washer, or a bus driver, or a construction worker. I want someone who likes his job, but at the end of the day realizes what is truly important! Walter, no one at the end of his life ever says, 'Gee, I wish I'd spent more time at work'!" Paige finished emphatically.

Well. It seemed like she was mad at him after all.

Walter stared at her, mouth agape. Is that what he was doing to her? Was he just another _Drew_?! He stood there paralyzed and absorbing her words for long minutes until his lack of response made her toss her pen down on her desk and roll her eyes.

"I'd better go," she said with resignation. As she stood to collect her things, she mumbled under her breath, "Maybe it's time I look for another job."

Walter's fists clenched and his eyes felt prickly with gathering moisture. "NO!" Was the only word he was able to squeeze past the tightness in his throat.

 **AN: Don't hurt me cuz then I can't make this all better...**


	11. Chapter 11

**KRYPTONITE**

 **CHAPTER 11**

At Walter's outburst, Ralph stirred in his sleep, so Paige grabbed the frustrated man's arm and pulled him toward the kitchen area shushing him. He stumbled along next to her, pointing at her and babbling, "See? That's it. That's why. It's the Theory of Repetitive Outcomes like Happy said."

Paige looked confused and a little exasperated. "What? What kind of theory? What are you trying to say?"

Walter squeezed his eyes shut in agitation. "I'm awful at this. You _know_ I'm awful at this."

Paige's tone gentled. "Just slow down. I'm trying to understand."

"Because you are _always_ saying you're going to leave me! Scorpion is _not_ more important to me than you or Ralph, but I have to preserve Scorpion because I can't lose everything I care about, every safe place I have, all at one time."

"Walter, I'm not _always_ saying I'm going to leave. And I'm sorry I sometimes say things I don't mean when I'm angry or scared, but it doesn't mean I'd go through with it," she said, her face filling with compassion and concern.

This seemed to upset Walter further and he glared at her, "I'm difficult. Aggravating. You _won't_ stay."

"Maybe all I need is a good reason to stay. Give me a reason and I'll fight tooth and nail to stay right here with you."

"I LOVE YOU!" Walter roared, "Isn't _THAT_ reason enough?!"

With that pronouncement, he snatched his arm out of her grasp and stalked toward the back of the garage. Paige glanced at Ralph to see if by some miracle he was still asleep. To her relief, she saw that he was, so she took off after Walter.

He was almost to the back door before she stopped him, grabbing at his arm again. She said, "You can't say something like that and just leave! Talk to me!"

But Walter was done talking.

He spun her around and shoved her back against the door. Yanking her hands above her head, he bracketed her wrists with his hands to hold them in place. He pushed his body's full length against hers. Breathing in staccato bursts, his eyes black with intensity, he stared at her for an instant before attacking her mouth with his.

This kiss was far from awkward and sweet, or hesitant and soft. This kiss was savage and passionate and hot and bruising. Punishing. He was punishing her for making him feel so damn much.

Walter's tongue thrust past her lips, plundering her mouth aggressively. But Paige was in no way intimidated. She moaned against his lips and sucked and nipped at his tongue, stroking it with her own, making his knees go weak and wobbly and his head spin. Unable to put her hands on him, she twined one of her legs around one of his and pulled at him, trying to bring him closer.

Releasing her right wrist, Walter slowly trailed his fingers down her arm to her shoulder to her soft breast. He palmed her there and gently squeezed before sliding his hand down and around her body, crushing her to him. Paige arched into him and slipped her freed hand under the tail of his shirt scoring his back with her nails and then soothing it in light circles.

Breaking away from her lips, he released her other wrist only to lace his fingers with hers. He buried his face in her neck and found the silky spot under her ear grazing it with his teeth. Then he began sucking, wanting to mark her. Brand her as _his_.

Her whimper shot right through every part of him. "Stay. Stay with me," Walter panted against her skin, his voice rough and gravelly.

"Tonight? Or for good?" Paige murmured, sounding raspy.

"Yes," he whispered.

She kissed him greedily again before pulling away slightly and gasping, "Walter. Wait. I want to stay tonight, but Ralph is here. There's no privacy. We don't have any of our things here."

Walter clung to her as if he was afraid she would vanish if he let go, and he made a soft sound of protest in his throat as he crushed his mouth to hers again.

Pulling away and laying her head on his shoulder, she put a hand against his chest to hold him off a little, and giggled breathlessly, "Why don't you come home with us. We can spend the weekend together at my place. I think Ralph would like that. I know I would."

He may not have grasped quite everything she'd just said, but he heard the words 'come home with us' and that penetrated the fog in his mind. He nodded, heart still thundering, his cheek against her hair. Walter hugged Paige to him another minute before releasing her and heading to the loft to get…what? He couldn't quite remember, but he was sure it would come to him.

"Oh, and Walter?"

He looked back at her. Paige was standing there looking thoroughly mussed and gorgeous with a smug grin on her face. "I love you more."

"Not possible. Love cannot be quantified, so your theory is unsound," he answered, shaking his head and continuing toward the stairs.

"…and he's back," she said under her breath, beaming.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Cabe thought it would be safe to call even though it was just past seven. Walter was usually up early even on Saturdays. The genius didn't sleep much especially if he had a project going.

So, when the phone rang four times and a groggy voice said, "Uh…Yeah?" Cabe was concerned at first, because he thought Walter might be sick.

So he asked, "You okay there, son?"

He got an affirmative answer, so he shrugged and started into his purpose for calling, "Sorry if I woke you, Walt, but I just got off the phone with Katherine. You know the address book you found?"

"Mm hmm," was the reply.

"It was a gold mine! It had all the names and addresses of the distributers for Helping Hands. Not only were we able to seize the ammo Helping Hands had at the warehouse, we are now able to track down what had already been sold. It's great news. This went a long way to redeem Scorpion in the eyes of the military and law enforcement. I thought you'd want to know."

Walter sniffed, "Yep. Uh, thanks."

Then Cabe heard a feminine voice in the background say sleepily, "Walter? Who is it?" The homeland agent's mouth dropped open.

He heard Walter answer, "It's Cabe."

"Is everything okay?" The female voice asked. Wait. Was that _Paige_?

And Cabe thought, _about damned time_ and chuckled to himself before disconnecting. Everything was obviously just fine.

 **AN: And that's a wrap! Hope you enjoyed it. Please review and let me know what you thought. Feedback keeps us writers writing!**


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